


Dogs

by sevenstevearmy



Series: Dreams [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Flashbacks, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Past Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, moraliceit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 03:22:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20382853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sevenstevearmy/pseuds/sevenstevearmy
Summary: Dee has a traumatic past, but is looking forward to the future. His match on Generic Dating App is just the start.Based on creativepromptsforwriting on Tumblr prompt:“I’ve never thought I could fall in love with you.”“Because I’m a man?”“No, because I never liked your dog.”





	Dogs

**Author's Note:**

> I was determined to make this a one shot, bc I already have a chaptered Sanders Sides fic. It's purposefully a bit vague, so feel free to fill in the details yourselves and make what you want of the story. I hope you enjoy.

Dee had always struggled to leave his apartment. Why did they have to put in a dog park on his street? He had finally gotten away from- But tonight he had a date. It was a blind date, they had met on a dating app. He could only hope this guy wasn’t like the last one. Recently Dee had taking to embracing his sexuality. It only took him 28 years, but he was finally safe and in a place he could start over. 

The guy Dee had matched with and been talking to for the past month seemed nice enough. His name was Patton and he was a bit silly and childish, but could also be mature and caring. Dee had been up front about the fact that he’d never really dated a guy before, but Patton didn’t seem to mind. Dee had gotten all dressed up, or as dressed up as he could. He hoped Patton wouldn’t mind the scars on his face from- So he put on some black slacks, a pale yellow polo, and a black hat. He had a black blazer that was fleece lined because he was nearly constantly freezing.

As he walked up to the restaurant Patton had chosen. It was a nice semi-casual place for a first date. He was early, but despite that when he walked in he saw Patton sitting at a table. Patton looked up and waved Dee over. Dee stopped and stared. Wow. Patton looked… really good. It was safe to say he was in fact into guys. He stood at the entrance until he realized Patton looked concerned and was about to get up. Dee proceeded to the table before he could get any more weird looks from servers or customers. 

“Are you ok?” Patton asked the second Dee pulled out his chair.  
“Yeah. Sorry. You just… look really nice.” A blush spread across his cheeks as he sat down.  
“Oh,” Patton replied while his own blush was forming. “You look really nice, too.”

Patton made small talk while they looked over the menu and ordered. Everything was going smoothly until one topic in particular came up.

“So, do you have any pets?”  
“I have a California King snake. My friend Remus named him Gerald. What about you?”  
“I have a Lab Collie mix named Kelly. She’s a rescue and really sweet and-”

At this point Dee stopped listening. This guy who was fun and kind and he had been thinking about opening up to, had a dog. But Patton seemed good and nice, so any dog he had would be the same, right? It wouldn’t be like- He had to get out of there, at least for a second. He stood and Patton stopped whatever he was saying.

“Dee,” he could barely hear, “Dee, are you alright?”  
“I’ll be back… bathroom. Be… back.”

Patton looked worried and confused like he was about to say something but Dee didn’t give him a chance. He all but ran to the restroom and pulled out his phone.

“Come on… Pick up, pick up, pick up-”  
“Hello?”  
“Remus! I can’t do this.”  
“What’s wrong? I thought you liked this one. Is he not how you thought he’d be?”  
“What? No. He’s perfect. Like an angel. Or a god. He’s funny and kind and attractive and I think I could look into his eyes and listen to him ramble forever.”  
“So what exactly is the problem?”  
“He has… a dog.”  
“Oh, Dee.”  
“I just- he’s so great, but I don’t think it will go very far because…”  
“Look. Dee. Do you want to get past your fear?”  
“Well yeah, but-”  
“Don’t end it yet, then. You can wait as long as you need to meet the dog, but if you really like this guy, don’t let your fear ruin this for you. I know what you’ve been through and how it affected you, but you can’t let him continue to hold power over you. He can’t hurt you anymore, and I can’t stand to see you lose out on anything else.”  
“When did you get so smart? I blame it on that boyfriend of yours.”  
“Yeah… Logan is brilliant.”  
“So you’ve told me. I better get back to my date. Are we still on for Friday?”  
“Always.”  
“See you then.”  
“Bye.”

Patton was relieved to see Dee come back from the bathroom. It wouldn’t have been the first time a date had just walked out on him. Dee also seemed a lot more at ease.

“Sorry about that.”  
“It’s alright. Was something wrong? Did I say something?”  
“I’m fine. I just got nervous. You’re really great and I was afraid… I guess I was afraid of it not working out, and that probably sounds crazy because we’ve only known of each other’s existence for a month, and this is our first date, but I just really want there to be a second one.”  
Patton blinked.  
“Sorry, that’s a lot isn’t it.”  
“Oh! No! I mean… I kind of feel the same way. You’re really interesting and I’d love to get to know you more.”  
“... Really? … Huh.”  
“What?”  
“Well, no one has ever really wanted to get to know me before, except Remus of course and then his boyfriend.”  
“I can’t imagine that. There’s so much to you. I can tell I’ve barely scratched the surface.”

Dee blushed and kept blushing as the food came, as they ate, and all the way through when they got up to leave. He could already tell Patton would be the best thing to ever happen to him, even if it didn’t work out.

Deceit dreamed all night and all day about his next date with Patton, until the day finally came. In the meantime he had been sent plenty of pictures of Patton’s dog and gotten to know more about him, like how he had one the regionals of the spelling bee, but when National’s came around he had lost his voice so the second place kid went instead. 

Of course, Dee’s car had to break down just hours before he would be leaving so Patton had to come pick him up.

“I didn’t know you lived next to a dog park. I’ll have to bring Kelly by sometime.”

The dog park. Right. The bane of Dee’s existence, and Patton was excited about it. Of course he was. He didn’t know. He didn’t know about- And how his- No one but Remus knew. He didn’t want to tell Patton. Who would want to be someone so broken? He knew he would have to tell Patton eventually if they kept going on dates, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it yet.

“Yoohoo! Earth to Dee?”  
“Ah. Sorry.”  
“No worries. I was just thinking about how nice the weather is for our picnic.”  
“It is nice out, isn’t it.”

At least it was sunny and warm. When they got to the park across town with the bridge and the pond that looked like a movie set they decided to set down right by the bank. There were a few dogs, but at this park they had to be on leashes. Dee was still a little nervous, but tried not to let it show. There was nowhere to run this time so he’d have to keep himself calm. 

As they ate, Patton busied himself making flower crowns out of daisies he had picked, one for each of them. Dee watched inawe as his hands went to work. They talked and it turned out that Patton had learned to do it as a summer camp counselor when he was younger, which brought them into talking about the time Dee went to band camp. He played the tuba. After a while, they sat in comfortable silence.

“Wow. It’s really beautiful.” Patton looked across the pond and saw the blossoms of the trees floating in the water and the swans that swam among them as a gentle breeze pushed them along.  
Dee looked at Patton and immediately softened. He looked beautiful with the flowers in his hair as it glowed with sunlight. Dee had never seen someone so undeniably gorgeous before.  
“Yeah,” he replied. “It sure is.”

When they were satisfied with their time at the park, they packed up and began to walk back to the car. The date would have been perfect if the universe hadn’t decided to spoil it last minute. A young woman was walking her dog on the sidewalk near Patton’s car. 

“Ooooo! Puppy! May I?” Patton asked the owner.  
“Of course! She loves attention.”  
“Dee, do you want to give her a pet?”

His question was answered with silence. He turned to see Dee had backed away a few steps and turned pale. Upon further inspection, he was shaking as well.

“Dee? … Oh my goodness. You’re afraid of dogs. I’m so sorry!”

Dee wanted to tell him it was all ok. He wanted it to be ok, but he felt himself slipping further and further into the past. Suddenly it was no longer a sunny afternoon in the park, but a rainy night in his Father’s back yard.

“What are you trying to do to this family?! All I do for you? And _this_ is how you repay me?!?! Don’t you back away from me boy! You need to be taught. Maybe a night in the dog pit will teach you to be going around with boys.”

“Dee! DEE!”

He could hear someone calling him. He blinked and the sun was in his eyes. When did he get on the ground? There was a guy with glasses and a blue polo kneeling next to him.

“Patton?”  
“Dee! Oh, Dee. Why didn’t you tell me?”

What? It all came back to him. The dog. He quickly sat up and looked around, glad to find the furry menace was long gone. He turned back to Patton who was… crying? 

“Patton, are you ok?”  
“Me?! Am _I_ ok? Are _you_ ok? You were so pale and shaking and then you just fell over! I was so worried! Don’t scare me like that! Oh, Dee.”

Without even thinking, Dee threw himself into an awkward hug in an attempt to comfort Patton. It had been a long time since he had made physical contact with anyone but Remus. Patton stiffened with shock but quickly melted into the hug. They stayed like that until Patton was able to calm down. 

“Patton… I don’t want to see you cry again. Ever. I only want to see that beautiful smile the brightens my whole day. The one that reaches your entrancing eyes. I don’t want to worry you like that again, so I guess it’s time to be honest and upfront about my past, because I want to move on, and I want to meet your dog, and I want to continue seeing you if you’ll still have me.”  
“Of course I‘ll still have you. It’s been a short time, but the connection was almost immediate. I want to meet your friends and help you move on and most of all, I don’t want to stop seeing that smile that melts your hardened demeanor and the playful look in your eyes I saw once you got comfortable with me. I want to keep skyping before bed and sending and receiving good morning texts. You don’t have to tell me everything right now if you don’t want to, but whenever you’re ready, I’m here to listen.”  
“I feel that I should tell you. But maybe we go back to my place first?”  
“Of course.”

They arrived at Dee’s apartment and made their way to the couch. Dee let loose his past that he had been struggling to keep contained. Now two people knew, and instead of the world ending, he felt so much better. It was a lot to sort through, but Patton promised to help him through it. Dee couldn’t wait for the two sides of his life to come together as one.

“You know, I never thought I could fall in love with you.”  
“Because I’m a man?”  
“No, because I never liked your dog.”

Dee smirked and Patton laughed. They had hit such a low emotionally that laughing felt so good and they just laughed together until they both fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> The general idea is that Deceit would get more sassy and sarcastic as he recovered. Let me know if you want a follow up bc I'm willing to write another installment and just make it a series. That is, if you don't completely hate it bc this is admittedly not my best work.


End file.
